Story Highlights

Fisher defined by selflessness, loyalty

Mike Fisher’s retirement letter in The Tennessean was one of the best front pages that I have read in your paper.

I have become very apathetic to professional sports because so many of the franchises and the athletes seem only to be loyal to themselves and the code of “what have you done for me lately.”

Mike Fisher’s unselfish attitude and loyalty to his team and love for the city defined him. He recognized that God and the people God put in his life are what has brought him this far. I have never been more proud to be called a Preds fan and a Nashvillian, but I guess that is the reason Mike was the captain of the franchise.

He knew how to motivate his teammates and help turn Nashville into an NHL town. I wish we could have given him the cup and a parade down Broadway. Instead, we have to settle with adding to our bucket list, buying this guy a beer, shaking his hand, and maybe throwing him a congratulatory catfish onto the ice next season. Good luck, Mike.

JF Russell, Nashville 37221

Goodbye to a warrior

Mike Fisher reached out to the fans and people of Nashville in an article in The Tennessean, Thursday, Aug. 3. In truth, Mike reached out to all of us every time he put the jersey on.

Having played the game, coached and scouted both at college and the pro level, I can say that there was never anyone who played with class and passion the way our "captain" did. In the era of big contracts and even bigger attitudes, he brought a refreshing throwback to "old time hockey," when winning and passion were at the forefront of players' approach to the game.

Mike will leave, but he will be remembered as a hero and warrior to many. The NHL lost a great representative of how the game should be played.

After threats of nuclear action from North Korea, President Trump's, er, calm reaction was to issue a bigger, fiery, more powerful threat. He's always got to be firing something, usat.ly/2wIcXDk USA TODAY

Blackburn town hall falls short

On Thursday, July 27, at 5:58 p.m., I received a robocall from Rep. Marsha Blackburn inviting me to take part in a "live town hall meeting that I am hosting right now."

Thanks for the invitation, Rep. Blackburn, but how about hosting a real meeting in a real hall in a real town like Franklin where you have an office? And how about publicizing it in advance so people can plan to be there instead of interrupting our dinner hour?

I had to laugh when I saw Marsha Blackburn on TV this week talking about the results of her telephone town hall meeting.

Loyce Hooker, Brentwood 37027

Trump’s smoke and mirrors

Up until the election of 2016, our current president has employed smoke and mirrors to craft and hone a winner's persona and image and parlay it into a certain degree of perceived success. He then used the same playbook to get elected and now finds himself in a position where smoke and mirrors can't work anymore except with his die-hard supporters.

In 1969, Laurence J. Peter wrote a book, "The Peter Principle," which stated that people "rise to their level of incompetence." I think President Trump is the glaring example of Mr. Peter's theory. I hope some of his supporters will look behind the curtain at our modern-day Wizard of Oz, frantically pulling the levers and spreading lies like manure on gullible minds, and come to the conclusion that he just doesn't have the right stuff for the job.